Rotary pump



May 5, 1936. A. o. BEAUCHEMIN 2,039,698 ROTARY PUMP Filed May 8, 1934 4Sheets-Sheet 1 May 5, 1936. A. o. BEAUCHEMIN 2,039,698

ROTARY PUMP Fiied May 8, 1934 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 III/1111 I I I I II1111111 0 May 5, 1936 A. o. BEAUCHEMIN ROTARY PUMP Filed May 8, 1934 4Sheets-Sheet 3 A. o, BEAUCHEMIN 2,939,698

ROTARY PUMP Filed May 8, 1934 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 W 6 0 fi-w7 5 0 I 2 4 Z/4 May 5, 1936.

Patented May 5, 1936 I UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ROTARY PUMP Alphonseo. Beauchemin. New mi, N. r.

Application May 8, 1934, Serial No. 124,585

5 Claims.

The invention relates to pumps and has as an object the provision of apump which provides as an integral unit the pump structure enclosing themotor therein.

Further objects of the invention are to provide a submersible pump; asubmersible pump having automatic means to prevent water from cominginto contact with the motor; a submersible pump so designed as toprevent condensation of water upon the motor unit from the airsurrounding the motor; to provide a pump which may be used in verticalposition in a well, or as a boos. er pump in horizontal position in apipe line; to provide a pump embodying means to compress air for theexpelling of water from. the motor chamber, and 'for other purposes; toprovide a pump having an air trap or diving bell arrangement to housethe motor, which diving bell is extensible for greater safety againstwater reaching the motor; to provide novel sealing means whereby thewell casing may be used as a delivery conduit from the pump; to providean air chamber or bell with circulation of air about the motor; toprovide a motor chamber within the diving. bell structure and spacedtherefrom to keep the motor chamber wall out of contact with the divingbell structure; to provide a pump which may be run in submerged positionindefinitely without attention; to provide a pump which may be connectedin multiple series or in parallel, or both, for increase of head or ofcapacity, or both.

Further objects of the invention will appear from the followingdescription when read in connection with the accompanying drawingsshowing an illustrative embodiment of the invention, and wherein:-

Fig. l is a central vertical section of the pump and motor unit;

Figs. 2, 3, and 4 are horizontal sections on the corresponding sectionlines of Fig. i;

Fig. 5 is a. detail vertical section corresponding to a portion of Fig.l drawn to an enlarged scale;

Fig. 6 is a central vertical section of the upper portion of the pumpshowing a. sealing means;

Fig. 7 is a diagrammatic vertical section of the pump and sealing meansof Fig. 6 in place in a well casing;

Fig. 8 is a side elevation partly broken away of a series arrangement ofa plurality of pumps of the invention;

Fig. 9 is a side elevation partly broken away of an extension of thelower air chamber;

Fig. 10 is a side elevation, and Fig. 11 is a plan view of a parallelarrangement of four Fig. 12 is a vertical section partly in sideelevation showing a pump submerged in a well with the compressed airtank connected to the pump and Fig. 13 is a section corresponding toFig. 5 5 showing a diilerent form of air and wire conduit.

It is well understood in the art of centrifugal pumps that every pump ofthe nature illustrated herein must have a diiiusing hub for change ofthe direction of the water from the horizontal 10 direction where itleaves the impeller to a vertical direction for delivery from the pump.In former submersible pumps of which I am'aware, the hub of the pump hasalways been made in accordance with conventional practice and the motorhas 15 been enclosed in a chamber separate from the hub. The result hasbeen that such former structures have been too unwieldy and heavy forsuccessful use or economical production. In accordance with the presentinvention the motor is enclosed in an air bell integral with the hubitself of the pump.

As shown in Figs. 1 to 5 inclusive, the casing of the pump isillustrated at If) comprising the wall it of the bowl of the pump andthe wall it of 25 the hub, said walls spaced to provide the annular orcylindrical channel l8 curving inwardly as at it and formed withdiffusion vanes 2%, as shown in Fig. 4, to receive water from theimpeller 2i. The vanes 20 are shown as joining 3Q vanes 22 extendingupwardly in channel is, to the lower end of delivery nozzle 23.

For convenience in assembly, the lower portion 26 of the bowl I5 is madeseparate from the upper portion 25 thereof, the two portions being 35joined together as by a screwthreaded joint it and the nozzle 23 isscrewed upon the upper end of the portion 25 of the bowl, as at till.The upper and lower portions of the hub walls ii are likewise divided,as at 2%. 4i}

To form a compressed air bell, the upper end of the walls ii are shownas formed integral with a. diaphra it, thus hermetically sealing an airspace in the interior of the hub.

The lower end of the section it of the bowl 45 is also shown asextending downwardly into a skirt 2e shown as interiorly screwthreadedat it, into which screwthreads there is shown inserted a, non-cloggingscreen it. There is thus provided an upper airchamber 32 and a lower airchamber 33 which are shown as placed in communication by means of achannel 3 3. It re-- sults that when the pump is submerged, air will becompressed in the lower air chamber 33 and 5 J through the medium oi.the channel 34 in the upper air chamber 32.

If the pump is to be submerged to a considerable depth, the screen 3|may be removed and an extension 35, Fig. 9, of the skirt 29 may bescrewed into threads 38, in which event a pipe 36 is screwed upon theintake nozzle 31 of the pump to ext-end below the extension 35 of theskirt.

The impeller 01 the pump shown at 2! is of a usual form and comprises ahub 38 andhas a bearing is in the lower portion of the hub, as shown inFig. 1'. To drive the impeller, there is shown a motorshaft 40 connectedwith a rotor ll of a motor diagrammatically shown as of the squirrelcage type having a stator 42. mounted in a casing '43and'spaced'therefrom by ribs a l n shown in Fig. 2.

antifriction bearings 45, 46 are shown in which the shaft lll revolves.The motor casing 53 comprises a supporting disc 41 which may be mountedin the threaded joint 26 between the upper and lower portions of thehub. The motor casing is shown as upwardly closed by means of a disc l8which may be integral with the side walls of the casing, air circulationopenings 49, 50 being shown for circulation of air within the motorcasing to the space within the compressed air bell enclosed by the upperhead 28, other openingstii being provided for circulation between themotor casing and the bell.

To compress air by pumping action, there is shown an air intake pipe 52which may be passed down one of the chambersl8 and through the intakenozzle 31 opening into a zone of rarefaction caused by the action of theimpeller, which pipe 52 may extend to the atmosphere and through whichair will be drawn to mix with the water. The water and air may, asindicated in Figure 12, be delivered to atank 53 wherein the air willseparate from the water and gather in the upper portion of the tank. Thewater will be expelled from the tank 53 by air pressure through a pipe54 which may connect with the house system or other place of use.

To expel water from the chamber 32 within the compressed air bell, apipe 55 is shown connecting with the upper portion of the tank 53 andpassing through the lower portions of the bowl and hub into the chamber32, admission of air from the compressed air tank being controlled bymeans of a valve 56 controlledby a float 51.

As shown the compressed air pipe 55 is utilized also as a conduit forwiring to the motor through the connectors 58, 59 illustrated in Fig. 5.Should the compressed air supply fail, it is desirable to cut oilcurrent from the motor upon rise of the water in pipe 32 and for thispurpose a conventional cut-out switch 60 is shown diagrammatically inFig. 1 controlled by a lever 6| and a rod 62 connected with the float51. Should water still continue to rise and the cut-out switch 69 failto act, a short circuit will result at the switch 60 which may beprotected by a fuse, not shown, at the surface.

As shown in Fig. 13, the chamber 63 illustrated in Fig. may be omittedand the pipe 55 may be carried through the lower portion of the hub andinto one of the channels in the hub between vanes 22. This form ofwiring is desirable when the sealing means shown in Fig. 6 is used forthe purpose of utilizing the wall casing 64 as a delivery pipe. 1

The sealing means is shown as comprising an annular channel shapedcasting 65 screwed at 66 upon the delivery nozzle 23 of the, pump. the,

flanges of the casting 65 being formed as shown at 61, 63, to receivebeads upon the edges of flexible annular member 63 of the nature ofpneumatic tire structure.

To inflate the sealing means whereby to cause the annular member 69 toseal with the wall of the well casing, the compressed air pipe 55' isshown as communicating at 1!) with the interior of the sealing meansthereby placing air pressure from the tank 53 in the interior of saidsealing means.

With this structure as shown in Figure 7, the pump may be lowered intothe water in the well casing and compressed air turned into the sealingmeans and the pump started. Should the pump be stopped, water cannotescape downwardly about the pump and a check valve ll, Fig. 7, may beprovided at the bottom of the -skirt 35 or, at the bottom of the skirt29, Fig.

not shown. In thestructure of Fig. 7 the upper end of the well casingmay be closed to provide the compressed air chamber 80.

In Figure 7, there is diagrammatically illus-' trated a booster pump '72placed in the outletfrom. the well, which may be a second pump ofportion of the skirt 29, whereupon the added pump will fit into thethreads, and with connection of the wires to the added pumps each inparallel with the pump above, any number of pumps may be connected inseries, four pumps being shown so connected in Figure 8. This willprovide a head of substantially 90% of the corresponding multiple of asingle pump.

If it be desired to connect the pumps in parallel, a casting 13 may beconnected to the delivery pipe I4, each of the outlets of the castingbeing connected to a nozzle 23 of the separate pumps.

The casting shown in Figures and 11 is a four-way casting but it will beseen that a threeway or a two-way casting may be equally well utilized.The two, three, or four pumps thus connected in parallel may also be aseries multiple pump 'as indicated at 16, Fig. 10.

A defect in former attempts to provide submersible pumps has been thatthe motor is housed directly in the compressed air bell and is thereforecooled by the water upon the outside of the wall' of the bell. Itresulted from this structure that when the pump is stopped, the statorof the motor cooled more rapidly than the air within the bell and themoisture from the air condensed upon the motor, which condensation uponagain starting the motor, caused short circuits.

In the structure shown, the heat of the motor causes a circulation ofair through the openings 43 about the motor, through openings 50 to thespace within the air bell, and then downwardly through the openings 5|.When the motor is stopped, the-air within' the motor casing 43 is warmedby the heat of the motor causing the will be plugged, the float 51 andcut-out 60 will be omitted, and leakage will be provided about becomecompressed in the chamber. However any liquid leaking in will drain outthrough the space about pipe 55 assisted by eduction of liquid flowingpast the pump in the pipe line. Also, if desired a; slow leak ofcompressed air may be provided from pipe 55 into the interior, to expelliquid.

The fact that the Wires are run to 'the motor in the compressed air pipe55 or 55' prevents leakage of water into contact with the wires.

In the compression tank 53 there is shown a float switch 11 for controlof the motor by the water level in the tank. A safety valve 18 is shownon the compression tank to limit the air pressure in the tank to thedesired amount. The air induction pipe 52 may be provided with a controlvalve, not shown, to adjust the intake of air to be compressed.

Minor changes may be made in the physical embodiment of the inventionwithin the scope of the appended claims without departing from thespirit thereof.

I claim:

1. A rotary pump comprising, in combination: a hollow diffusing huband-bowliormed with an impeller chamber and radial flow passage inaninlet end wall thereof and with a longitudinal flow passage along itsside wall; means hermetically closing the hollow of the hub at itsoutlet end; an impeller in said chamber; a motor housing in said hubspaced from said side wall and from said hermetically closed end; amotor mounted in said housing in spaced relation with the walls thereof;drivempgnections between said motor and impeller andmeans'toprovide-circulation of air through said housing and end and sidespacings.

2. A rotary pump comprising, in combination: a hollow diffusing hub andbowl having an inlet and an outlet; a hermetic closure for the interiorof said hub at its outlet end; a diaphragm within said hub intermediateits ends, dividing the interior into upper and lower air trap chambers;said diaphragm being formed with a passage placing said chambers incommunication and with an impeller chamber and a radial flow passage incommunication with the outlet; means to conduct liquid from said radialflow passage to the outlet end of the hub and bowl; an impeller in saidimpeller chamber; a motor housed in the upper chamber; means to drivesaid impeller from said motor and an intake nozzle secured at the inletopening of the impeller chamber and projecting into said lower air trapto provide the air trap character thereof.

3. A rotary pump comprising, incombination: a rotary impeller; anupwardly closed submersible chamber; a motor mounted in said chamber andconnected to drive said impeller; an air eduction pipe leading to theatmosphere and opening in the zone of rarefaction of said impeller;means to receive water mixed with compressed air from the pump and tostore the air under pressure; means to deliver compressed air from saidstorage means to the interior of said chamber to expel water therefrom;a float in said chamber; wires leading to said motor; means controlledby said float to control admission of air to said chamber; and a cut-outconnected in said wires and controlled by said float to, breakconnection to said motor upon undue rise of water level in said chamber.

4. A rotary pumpcomprising, in combination: a hollow difiusing hub andbowl structure havin an inlet and an outlet and formed with spacedclosure walls at its inlet end and spaced concentrio side walls;difiusion vanes between said spaced closure walls, said vanes extendinglongitudinally between said'concentric walls to the outlet end of saidbowl, said spaced closure walls formed with a central impeller chamber,said chamber communicating with the inlet and the spaces between saidvanes and said closure walls having an opening to the interior of thehub closed from the passage between said spaced clo sure walls; ahermetic closure for the outlet end i of the interior of the innerconcentric wall; a motor mounted in the upper portion of said interiorin spaced relation to the inner surface of the interior side wall; animpeller mounted in said chamber connected to be driven by said motor.

5. A series-parallel, submersible combination of pumps comprising incombination: a plurality of pumps each comprising a hollow diffusing huband bowl of uniform and the same external diameters, each having anoutlet and an inlet end formed with male and female screw connectionsrespectively; the upper multiple connected pumps each having an outletnozzle engaging said outlet end screw connections; a fitting having aplurality of inlets connected respectively to said outlet nozzles, andan outlet to connect with a common delivery conduit; 2. second pumpconnected at its outlet-end-screw-threads to the inlet-end-screw-threadsof each of said outlet nozzle-provided pumps to provide said seriesparallel arrangement; each of said hubs and bowls having a closure atits inlet and formed with an impeller chamber and radial flow passages;the walls of .each hub and bowl formed with longitudinal passagesleading to the outlet end thereof and communicating with said radialflow passages; the outlet end of each hub, interiorly of saidlongitudinal passages being hermetically closed; an impeller in eachimpeller chamber; and a motor in each hermetically closed interiorconnected to drive the respective impellers.

ALPHONSE O. BEAUCHEMIN.

